5th Avenue North Reconstruction Accelerated by Two Months Under Approved Change Order

Steve Jurrens
2 minutes ago
2 min read

Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Watertown City Council unanimously approved a $50,986 change order for the 5th Avenue North reconstruction project, allowing the contractor to move into Phase 2 early and accelerate the overall timeline by roughly two months.

City Engineer Justin Petersen said Site Works Inc. has made faster‑than‑expected progress on utility installation and wants to continue without pausing for other scheduled projects.

“They were able to start earlier, they’ve made really good progress installing the utilities, and instead of having their crew leave and come back later, they want to continue,” Petersen said. “They estimated it would save them two months of time.”

Councilman Kyle Peters said the update is significant for residents who have dealt with detours.

“That’s good news,” Peters said. “That might be something we can issue in a press release. People will be happy to hear that.”

The change order also covers the cost of addressing unknown service lines uncovered during excavation — a common issue in older neighborhoods.

Councilman Doug Allen asked for clarification.

“Service lines would be like what?” he asked.

Petersen explained that crews discovered previously undocumented lines connecting to existing mains.

“Anytime you dig up a street, you never really know what you’re going to find,” Petersen said. “This is to repair the service lines and put a main in so that it doesn’t do that.”

Councilman Michael Heuer encouraged the city to consider building contingency funds into future projects in older areas.

“Just maybe us getting ahead of it a little bit,” Heuer said. “If we don’t use it, great — but it’d be good to have it earmarked.”

Councilman Allen also raised concerns about maintaining emergency access to Prairie Lakes Hospital during construction.

City Manager Alan Stager said the city is coordinating closely with public safety agencies.

“We do need to always maintain at least two north‑south routes through the intersections with 5th Avenue,” Stager said. “Nobody should be surprised some morning that an intersection is suddenly closed unexpectedly.”

The change order passed unanimously.